Return of the Great Devourer

Hey all, Alpharion here again. With the recent release of the Genestealer Cult in the new Deathwatch: Overkill board game I decided to tinker around with a list featuring their new formation. Somehow I knew Games Workshop would pull me back into my first army. They seem to have a way of doing that, unless of course your first army was Sisters (sorry, reset the clock). When rumor first broke of a possible Genestealer Cult release I was at first apprehensive. Would Games Workshop knock it out of the park, or would they drop a dud like the last Tyranid Codex? Regardless, I was excited at the prospect of new Tyranid models. When the release finally came I was pleasantly surprised that I was not utterly disappointed like I was for the latest Tyranid Codex. Whether or not the Genestealer Cult will get its own mini-dex is still up for debate, in the meantime Games Workshop has tossed a bone to the biomass pile of Tyranid players everywhere.

In my opinion the best part of this release was two Mastery Level 2 psykers that have access to Telepathy powers. Hello invisible Genestealers! While it may not rectify the shortcomings of the Tyranid Codex, it surely helps. Another neat trick is the ability of the Patriarch and the Purestrain Genestealers to infiltrate within 1″ of an enemy unit and charge Turn one! Oh, and any unit deployed using infiltrate has the “shrouded” special rule the turn it infiltrates. And while you can only do this with three models at the moment, those models will hit hard and tie up (if not outright destroy) a unit turn one.

The Skyblight formation is probably one of my favorites from all the dataslates that were released. The Gargoyles being Objective Secured is huge. Formations usually do not come with Objective Secured troops, so that is a nice bonus for this list. Add on to that the formation rule that sends a wiped out Gargoyle unit back into Ongoing Reserves on a 4+. The unit that enters Ongoing Reserves is identical to the original unit in terms of size and upgrades. The downside being that each time a Gargoyle unit is destroyed it grants a kill point, even the “resurected” ones. The Harpies bring the added benefit of being able to drop a Large Blast during the movement phase by using its Spore Mine Cysts. And in the event the blast scatters and has no models under the blast template when scatter has been resolved D3 Spore Mines are placed anywhere under the blast template.

The allied detachment was used to bring another Flying Hive Tyrant with two Twin-Linked Devourers. The Warriors are the tax in this formation. I brought them along to add some synapse to the board, and while they are weak there are much greater threats present that they should survive for a few turns.

Now on to the list.

Tyranids: 1850 points

Formation Detachment – Skyblight Swarm (885 points)

Flying Hive Tyrant (240 points)

2x Twin-Linked Devourer, Electroshock Grubs

Synapse Creature, Psyker (mastery Level 2)

Gargoyle Brood (60 points)

10x Blinding Venom, 10x Fleshborer

Gargoyle Brood (60 points)

10x Blinding Venom, 10x Fleshborer

Gargoyle Brood (60 points)

10x Blinding Venom, 10x Fleshborer

Harpy (150 points)

Stinger Salvo, Twin-Linked Heavy Venom Cannon

Harpy (150 points)

Stinger Salvo, Twin-Linked Heavy Venom Cannon

Hive Crone (165 points)

Stinger Salvo, Drool Cannon, Scything Talons, 4x Tentaclids

Formation Detachment – Ghosar Quintus Broodkin (600 points)

Magus Orthan Trysst (65 points)

Autopistol, Force Stave, Genestealer Familiar

Psyker (Mastery Level 2)

Patriarch Ghosar (115 points)

Patriarchs Claws, Genestealer Familiar

Psyker (Mastery Level 2)

Primus Vorgan Trysst (75 points)

Blasting charges, Bonesword, Needle pistol

The Brothers Aberrant (215 points)

2x Power Pick, 2x Power Hammer, Rending Claws

The Faithful Throng (110 points)

12x Neophyte Hybrid

Autogun, Blasting charges, Close combat weapon

2x Neophyte Hybrid

Blasting charges, Close combat weapon, Mining laser

2x Neophyte Hybrid

Blasting charges, Close combat weapon, Grenade launcher

The Favoured Disciples (85 points)

12x Acolyte Hybrid

Autopistol, Blasting charges, Close combat weapon, Rending claws

The Purestrain Princelings (30 points)

2x Purestrain Genesteales

Rending claws

Allied Detachment – Tyranids (365 points)

Flying Hive Tyrant (240 points)

2x Twin-linked Devourer with Brainleech Worms, Electroshock Grubs

Psyker (Mastery Level 2)

Warrior Brood (125 points)

Venom Cannon, 2x Deathspitter, Rending Claws, Synapse

The only thing I think I may change would be the Warriors. While they would be great for some middle of the board synapse, I feel like they are out of place. I may be able to bubble wrap with some of the Abberants or another unit from the Broodkin. While I don’t think this will win a lot of tournaments, I do think it can hold its own.

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Hey all, Alpharion here. I picked up wargaming back in veterinary school as a way to relax and forget the stresses that comes with being a veterinary student. Since then I've enjoyed sharing my enthusiasm for this hobby with anyone who cares to listen. I look forward to sharing any, and everything, GW with you all!